Transformers: Eternal War has officially launched globally, and in this guide, we’re looking at the best characters to build your team around. This tier list is based on early access gameplay and personal experience before the global release.
The roster includes powerful damage dealers, tanks, healers, and crowd-control characters. Some units are useful in almost every team, while others become stronger when paired with specific characters or upgraded signature armor.
I’ll break down the S, A, B, C, and D tiers and explain why certain Transformers stand out. I’ll also cover the reset system, which allows you to recover your upgrade resources and test different characters.
Keep in mind that this is an experience-based tier list. Character performance can change depending on your team composition, upgrades, and future game updates.
Transformers Eternal War Tier List – Best Characters Global Launch
S Tier Characters
The S tier includes the characters that stood out the most during early access. These units offer strong overall value through damage, healing, survivability, energy generation, or crowd control.
S Tier:
- Grimlock
- Jetfire
- Optimus Prime
- Ratchet
- Soundwave
- Arcee
- Megatron
1. Grimlock
Grimlock is one of the strongest overall characters in Transformers: Eternal War. One of his biggest advantages is having the highest base HP in the roster.
His abilities allow him to build Reckless stacks as he attacks and uses skills. Once he reaches 10 stacks, he transforms into his dinosaur form, where his power increases significantly.
In dinosaur form, Grimlock receives major boosts to:
- Attack.
- Defense.
- Maximum HP.
- Overall damage potential.
He can also apply Erosion, which deals damage based on the enemy’s maximum health. This makes him particularly useful against bosses, where regular damage may not always be as effective.
Grimlock starts battles as a highly durable frontline character. After transforming, he also becomes a strong damage dealer, giving him both defensive and offensive value.
His signature armor improves him even further by increasing his HP. After additional upgrades, he can also heal the entire team when using his ultimate while in dinosaur form.
Grimlock is a reliable long-term investment because he combines survivability, damage, and team utility in one character.
2. Jetfire
Jetfire is a premium damage dealer with extremely strong offensive stats, especially his attack.
His ultimate attacks the entire enemy team and can remove buffs. This is especially useful in PvP, where opponents may rely on shields, defensive effects, and other buffs to survive.
As you progress further into the game, enemies begin using more defensive abilities. Jetfire’s ability to remove buffs gives him additional value in these situations.
Another useful part of his kit is his ability to steal energy from enemies. Energy management becomes increasingly important as battles become more difficult, so this mechanic can help Jetfire disrupt opponents while improving his own effectiveness.
During the early game, stronger characters can often clear content simply by having better stats. However, Jetfire’s buff removal and energy-stealing abilities give him useful advantages beyond raw damage.
3. Optimus Prime
Optimus Prime is an obvious inclusion in the S tier, but his ranking is not based only on his popularity. His actual kit provides an impressive amount of value to the entire team.
Every few seconds, Optimus Prime gives energy to all allied characters. This allows your teammates to charge their ultimates more quickly throughout the battle.
Teamwide energy generation becomes even more valuable as your other characters become stronger because they can use their powerful abilities more frequently.
Optimus Prime also provides:
- Knockdown for crowd control.
- Self-healing.
- Frontline durability.
- Teamwide energy generation.
- Protection against lethal damage.
The first time Optimus Prime would receive lethal damage, he avoids dying. He becomes immune, cleanses negative effects, and temporarily cannot fall below 1 HP.
This gives him an additional layer of survivability, especially during difficult fights.
Optimus Prime combines tanking, crowd control, energy support, and self-preservation in one slot. During early access, he was also available through a low-cost first top-up offer, although the exact global launch offer may differ.
4. Ratchet
Ratchet is one of the most valuable healer-support characters in the game. If your team is struggling to survive difficult stages, Ratchet can make a noticeable difference.
His ultimate provides a large heal to the entire team and temporarily increases his continuous healing.
However, his most interesting ability is Field Medic.
When one of your characters is about to take lethal damage, Ratchet can remove that character from battle. While they are outside the fight, he heals them before bringing them back into combat.
Instead of allowing one of your strongest characters to die, Ratchet gives them another chance to survive.
His signature armor can provide even more benefits, including:
- Additional team healing.
- Attack buffs.
- Extra energy generation.
Ratchet’s healing and emergency rescue mechanics make him especially useful for progression content where surviving longer is more important than dealing damage quickly.
5. Soundwave
Soundwave is one of the strongest control-focused characters available around launch. He provides several ways to disrupt the enemy team.
His ultimate can silence enemies, preventing them from using their active skills. This can be extremely useful when facing opponents who rely heavily on powerful abilities.
His companion abilities also add more control:
- Ravage can apply Bleed and reduce the target’s damage.
- Laserbeak attacks the enemy backline and can stun targets.
- Silence prevents enemies from using active skills.
- Backline attacks can disrupt vulnerable opponents.
Soundwave offers a combination of control, damage reduction, Bleed, and backline pressure.
He is also one of the characters I would consider for PvP because his abilities can interfere with the opponent’s strategy and prevent important skills from being used.
6. Arcee
Arcee was introduced during early access through an exclusive summoning banner with an increased chance of obtaining her. Her availability during the global launch may differ.
After unlocking her, she performed very well, particularly when it came to consistently dealing damage.
Her ultimate targets the enemy with the lowest HP, making her effective at finishing off opponents who are already close to defeat.
When Arcee successfully gets a kill with this ability, she restores a significant amount of energy. This allows her to potentially use her ultimate again much sooner.
Her playstyle is similar to a sniping assassin who focuses on securing finishing blows.
Arcee also has an ability called Restorative Lash, which deals damage and stuns the target for 2.5 seconds when it hits.
Another important part of her kit is that whenever an ally gains energy, Arcee also gains energy equal to 6% of that amount.
This creates strong synergy with characters such as Optimus Prime, who regularly provide energy to the entire team. Combining these abilities can allow Arcee to charge her ultimate more frequently.
7. Megatron
Megatron is another powerful crowd-control character who can disrupt enemies in several different ways.
He can apply:
- Knockdown.
- Silence.
- Stun.
Having multiple control effects gives Megatron different ways to interrupt the enemy team.
However, Megatron is not limited to being a control character. As you upgrade him, particularly through his signature armor, his tank form becomes much stronger.
Additional upgrades can provide:
- True damage.
- Increased attack speed.
- Better energy recovery.
- Life steal.
Based on early access gameplay, Megatron became a reliable tank and one of my favorite frontline characters alongside Optimus Prime.
His combination of crowd control, durability, and offensive improvements makes him a strong choice for different team compositions.
A Tier Characters
The A tier includes several strong characters that are worth upgrading and building into your team. They may not provide the same overwhelming performance as some of the S tier units, but they can still perform very well.
A Tier:
- Blue Streak
- Bombshell
- Dead End
- Hound
- Motormaster
- Prowl
- Sludge
- Starscream
These characters should not be considered bad simply because they are placed in A tier. They are still strong options and can be valuable in the right team composition.
The main difference is that they may not feel as powerful or universally useful as the S tier characters discussed earlier.
If you obtain one of these characters early, you can safely use them while progressing through the game. There is no need to ignore them just because you do not have an S tier unit.
B Tier Characters
The B tier contains characters that are generally more average but can still perform well in specific team compositions.
B Tier:
- Breakdown
- Bumblebee
- First Aid
- Hook
- Mirage
- Skywarp
- Snarl
- Swoop
- Wheeljack
These characters may not carry your entire team as easily as some S tier units, but their performance can improve when they are paired with the right allies.
A character’s position on a tier list does not mean that they are unusable. Certain abilities may work particularly well in specific formations, game modes, or situations.
You can also test these characters without permanently wasting your resources because the game provides a character reset system.
C and D Tier Characters
The C and D tiers include characters that were considered weaker in the early access tier list.
However, new players may receive several of these characters during their first summons. If that happens, you should not worry too much about having to use a lower-tier unit.
The game allows you to reset character upgrades and recover your resources. This means you can upgrade the characters you currently own and replace them later when you unlock stronger options.
A lower-tier character can still help you progress through early content while you work toward building a better roster.
How the Character Reset System Works
One of the most useful features in Transformers: Eternal War is the ability to reset character upgrades.
If you level up a character and later unlock a stronger unit, you can open the upgrade menu and select Reset. The game then returns the resources invested in that character, allowing you to use them elsewhere.
This system makes it easier to experiment with different team compositions.
For example:
- Choose around five main characters.
- Upgrade them to progress through the game.
- Unlock a new character.
- Reset one of your existing characters.
- Use the recovered resources on the new unit.
- Test the updated team composition.
This is why you do not need to worry too much about upgrading a character that you may replace later.
You may notice that some characters remain at level one in your roster. This can happen when you repeatedly reset characters and move your resources to different units.
The reset system gives you more freedom to experiment without permanently losing your upgrade materials.
Based on the early access experience described in the video, the game offers several opportunities to obtain and upgrade characters without spending money.
The player featured in the transcript explained that they had not spent money and had still obtained Optimus Prime and several other characters through regular gameplay.
They also mentioned playing relatively casually rather than grinding the game every day.
This suggests that players can make progress without needing to spend heavily, although the experience may vary depending on how often you play, which characters you obtain, and how the game’s global launch systems are structured.
The game also added more buildings, features, and content compared with its early access version. New players entering during the global launch can expect a more developed experience than the one available when early access first began.
Grimlock, Jetfire, Optimus Prime, Ratchet, Soundwave, Arcee, and Megatron make up the S tier of this early access-based Transformers: Eternal War global launch tier list.
Grimlock and Optimus Prime provide strong frontline value, Jetfire focuses on damage and buff removal, while Ratchet offers powerful healing and emergency protection. Soundwave and Megatron specialize in crowd control, and Arcee can deal consistent damage while finishing weakened enemies.
The A and B tier characters are still worth using, especially when you need to fill gaps in your roster or build specific team compositions. Thanks to the reset system, you can upgrade the characters you own now and move your resources to better units later.
You do not need to spend a lot of money or wait for a perfect roster to begin progressing. Try different characters, experiment with team combinations, and build around the units that work best for your playstyle.